The Thirteenth Doctor: Talons of Mars
by Veva Yaxley
Summary: Written in first person and derived from a strange dream I once had: Beth, an average seventeen year old, gets a nasty surprise when she holidays in America with her family. A mysterious man helps her up and they begin a series of journeys together.
1. Chapter 1

I lay back on the beach, looking up at the sky; it was late. It was _very_ late. Mum was in the hotel lobby, a paper open on her knees. She was unaware of my lack of presence, and seemed perfectly content in reading. She would have killed me for wandering off, if circumstances had not changed dramatically. I continued to watch the beautiful silver lights of the sky, twinkling away. Things may have been mostly different in America- the place we were holidaying, but the stars were still just as beautiful. I smiled, taking a deep breath of sea air. It was so different to the scent back in England, but I couldn't pinpoint as to why. Although, this was to become a very small and insignificant thought in the back of my mind. As I allowed my head to sink, slightly, into the sand, my eyes picked out something yellow in the sky. "Hmm.." I thought aloud to myself. This was not unusual. Talking to myself, I mean, not the round object in the sky which was slowly becoming more orange, then red. No, something from space, hurtling itself towards the Earth, was not something I could honestly say I was used to.

Hurried footsteps grabbed the attention of my ears, but my eyes remained focussed on the strange red 'star'. "Beth!" my mother's voice shrieked, "what the _hell _do you think you're doing- running off like that?" I sighed internally. It was always the same. But I was seventeen, nearing eighteen. She couldn't wrap me up in cotton wool forever. Or, at least, I hoped not. "I didn't _run _away, _mother_," I corrected her, purposely using my most annoyingly calm tone. "I walked. And besides, you were too busy reading your paper- I bet you wouldn't have noticed someone ripping off my head and waving it in your face." My opinion of mum, had never been exactly award-winning. She always disagreed, just to spite me. A bit of a 'bite your nose off to spite your face' sort of character. Her reply was well rehearsed and I already knew my response. "Don't you dare! You make me out as some self-absorbed.._ idiot_!" The pause had been almost comical, but I just shook my head, still watching the red thing grow larger. "Well," I decided to play a slightly different card in the hope that she would leave me alone. "aren't you?"

I had listened to mum's lecture, several times over, until she was finally satisfied that I had gotten the point. By that time, the red thing had expanded to extraordinary lengths, and I was beginning to get truly worried. People had slowly emerged onto the streets as the night stretched on. Some of them looked up, but they all continued to chatter. That was, until a strange, grumbling echo enveloped us all. Enveloped the world. Silence fell and all eyes were on the skies, watching as the red thing approached. It was even bigger than I had thought. Was it a planet? Was this some strange, one-off viewing? My heart gave only a few dull thuds at my chest, my lungs seemed to stop working and my stomach ached; I knew what it was, what it meant. Deep down, I knew. And that's why I didn't run.

Screams filled my ears as the thing got much closer, so close that its full outline was now visible. Time was running out. People ran to their cars, hoping to drive away to some safe place, hoping to escape it all. There was no hope. If we did run, then, where would we all go? This thing was _enormous. _Its thunderous drones spelt the end of the world and even if it didn't quite take out all of humanity, the least it would do was take out the entire population of America. Still, people ran. Mum grabbed my arm, yanking me up, looking around to see my grandparents and my brother, all hurrying out to us. We were met with the typical, 'British' attitude my grandfather had adopted, and the worried one of my grandmother. "Not much point in running." Granddad said, looking up at the sky and squinting slightly through the dim light, "We're going to die, anyway." Grandma thumped him, hissing at him to shut up, before bursting into floods of tears. "They're so young," she weeped, gesturing to my brother and I, "To young for all.. all this." Granddad shrugged and my brother moved in to comfort the poor old woman. I had no idea what to do in such a situation, so I stood up. "Right," I said, mustering every last ounce of strength in my body in an attempt to stop all the talk of the inevitable. "If we want a chance at survival, we ought to get going _now_." My words did nothing to motivate me, but grandma looked up with her tearful eyes and blotchy red face, dabbing at it with a handkerchief. It seemed to have given her some slight strength and she smiled at me in a hysterical fashion. Still, it was a smile, one containing some form of hope. And that was all we had.

We had gone on the move, sweeping in amongst the crowds of people, sticking together as best as possible, but moving swiftly, at the same time. Unfortunately, granddad decided to play the hero.. "You all go on," he said, his arthritis a burden to him, "I'll catch you up." I took one of his hands to try and make him walk with us- but he was slow, aching and resisting my attempts. I wished I could carry him, but he was tall and skinny and there was very little in our heights. His feet would still touch the ground. I grabbed at the hair on my head, pulling at it as I tried to think. "Mum, 'thanael, stay together- keep holding hands and go on." Mum then went to begin her heroic speech. I silenced her with a threat. "Go, or I will not go at all." Normally she would have called me foolish, a silly little girl, but I think that this time, she knew just how serious I was. After several glances and a quick family hug, she and Nathanael began running, disappearing among the other people. I turned back to my grandparents, but an old boy in a car, had already bundled them in. Everything was so surreal and I was becoming cut off from my family. Yet, I did not cry. It was my own fault for becoming a leader, my own silly fault for being a hero.

I walked into the sudden bursts of light from the helicopters above. Nothing made sense, to me, nothing_ worked_, anymore. I continued walking with the crowd, but fell into a more sparse patch, passing an alleyway. I turned my head to look and I saw the silhouette of a man, tall and proud, yet curious and.. _Was_ that worry? It was only to be expected that someone should fear the end of the world/all of America. Especially when one was involved in such matters. But this man.. He seemed to buzz with excitement. His whole aura was gleaming at me. I looked back over the heads of the crowd, then up to the red monster which hung in the sky; the craters on its surface were visible, now. My head was chock-a-block with thoughts and I stared into the alleyway, again. But he was gone.  
I guess I must have lost my concentration on walking, as I found myself meeting the ground, face-first. Nobody seemed to see me and I went to stand up. Out of hundreds of legs, came a hand, reaching out to me. Without thinking, I took it and stood up. "Thank you." I nodded, my hair falling over my face, my vision wrecked by the sudden bright lights. And then, I was moving. I was running blindly through the crowd, led by a stranger's hand. Darkness swamped my vision and I opened my eyes, struggling to adjust. It was quieter here, that was for sure. A moment later, I realized where I was and who the stranger was. He didn't leave me to feel my way along the walls of the alleyway, but led me deeper within it, to a wooden door. There was a click and another burst of light. Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea, after all? But no, we stepped inside and he locked the door. I was shaking. My eyes were barely open. "W.. Where are we?" I asked him, dazed. The man smiled. I could feel it and his eyes upon me. I felt so tired. When the man said nothing, I pursued. "Who are you? Where are you taking me?" He had wandered over to something in the middle of the room and had pulled a lever, hit something and, with a loud whirr, the room began to rumble. "Ah, yes," he said pleasantly, "I've been meaning to fix that.. Noisy old thing." He smiled again, beaming at me as I began to go weak. "I'm The Doctor, and you're going to help me save the planet."


	2. Chapter 2

I could hear a strange noise, but it sounded distant and muffled. But that had all been a dream, surely... My eyes flicked open; I was in a small room, surrounded by coats. "What.. ?" I breathed to myself, staggering to my feet and clinging onto one of the coat racks for support. My legs were like jelly and I had trouble standing up. It was hard to decide what scared me more - that it all hadn't been a dream, that the world really was ending and that a strange man had dragged out of nowhere and locked me in his house and I had no means of contacting my family, or the fact that I was getting a strange buzz out of it. Instinct told me that this man- The Doctor, was unaware of my awakening and that, if I could navigate my way to the door, I could find my family again. I took a moment to breath, the gather my thoughts, to begin walking to the door. Timing had to be impeccable. Unfortunately, that was all botched up as I opened the door of the room to find the man I had been trying to avoid, standing the other side. Smiling. "Hello there," he said to me in a warm manner, not even flinching as I recoiled and fell beck into one of the many coat racks. "I'm sorry I couldn't find you a bed- new TARDIS, you see. I have no idea where the bedrooms are.. Or the swimming pool, for that matter." His smiled extended. I didn't know what the hell a TARDIS was and I had no intention of finding out. I grabbed a coat hanger, throwing the coat from it and holding it in a threatening manner. I was paler than usual, my brown hair, a mess, but my eyes, regardless of my terrified shaking, were steady as ever, embracing my need to survive. The Doctor looked me over. For a moment. It seemed as though he was going to back off, to let me go. But no, he stood there, strong as ever, his bright blue eyes, staring into me. He was silent. I was silent. We were summing one-another up, deciding our chances in a fight. At least, that's what _I thought _he was doing, right up until the moment he opened his mouth to speak again. "There's a whole wardrobe around here, somewhere," he said, gesturing to my clothes. I looked down for a moment, wondering what was wrong with my clothes, I mean, aside from the buckets of sweat weighing them down. And then, it clicked. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped in horror. "How dare you!" I screamed at him, jabbing his stomach with the coat hanger- which proved useless. "I will not be subject to your twisted fetishes!" I tossed the coat hanger aside and clenched my fists so tightly, my knuckles turned white. The Doctor backed away a little bit, his hand up in a surrender. "No.. Listen, I just meant that-" I wouldn't let him finish. I was having none of it. I had bottled up my anger so far, but I was going to let loose very soon. "If you think that just because it's the end of the world, I'll just _roll over and take it_, then you are very much mistaken!" I swung out a fist, thumping him squarely in the chest. He stumbled backwards. I don't know if he caught his balance- I had already started running.

The house was truly enormous and every corridor looked the same. I tried every door I find, constantly looking over my shoulder to check whether or not the Doctor had followed. I was running faster than I had ever run before, my heart was beating against my chest, trying to escape. I hadn't noticed the tears of fear, streaking down my face. Nor, for that matter, had I noticed what was in the room I dived inside as I saw The Doctor, speeding towards me. With a loud splash, I soon realized that I had located the swimming pool. I was slowly sinking downwards, deep into the darkness. I kicked frantically at the water, trying to surface. But my clothes were dragging me down. With little breath left in my body, I pulled off my trainers and my baggy jeans, leaving them to fall on without me. With the last ounce of strength I had, I forced my legs to kick as hard as they could. In seconds, I surfaced, gasping a deep breath of air. My mascara had run, leaving large black marks by my eyes and down my face. Scarcely did I wear make-up, but that night, I had been so bored that I'd applied a lot. I only had myself to blame for the way The Doctor had acted. I obviously must have looked like the sort.

I had heaved myself from the pool, leaping onto my feet, but feeling weak with my lack of trousers or shoes. Unfortunately, The Doctor was there, standing in the doorway, looking at me. It was at that moment, that things began to change. "You will tell me who you are." I demanded, though I had no authority or weapon to back me up. "You will tell me your name." The Doctor nodded. "Of course," he said, stepping towards me. "I'm The Doctor." He offered his hand. I glared at it. "No," I retorted, "you will tell me your _real _name." He shot me a lopsided look and withdrew his hand. "John Smith." He stated, bowing his head slightly, his eyes still on mine. I didn't know whether or not to believe him, it was such a common name. I suddenly found myself noticing his accent- or rather, the lack of it. I was, like most people, pretty much 'immune' to hearing an English accent and this man, had no audible accent. He was English like me. Two English people, out in America. This gave me slight hope that I might be found.. But then I remembered that the world was ending. Nobody would care. My memory gave a slight flicker. The Doctor's first words to me, jumped to mind. "What did you mean?" I asked him, looking up at those striking blue eyes. "What did you mean about.. About me helping you save the world?" He was smiling again. I shivered. "You were unconscious so long that I did it, by myself." He looked so proud of himself. I shook my head the tiniest bit; he was obviously off his nut on drugs, or something. I decided it was safer to say nothing. A new plan was forming in my mind. "Alright, Doctor," I said in a cheerful fashion, "I think you should give me a tour of your lovely house." I smiled. It hurt. I didn't truly smile much and now was not going to be any different, even if my life did depend on it. The Doctor's face lit up. "Finally," he said, stepping aside, "you choose to make sense."

So, he took me on a tour of his house- The TARDIS. He showed me every room he could locate, and, after much walking, he led me to the engine room. This was the room I had collapsed in, the one which had made the strange noises. We were done with the tour, my feet ached and I shivered with the cold. He hadn't asked more about me, and had said nothing more of himself. We had simply walked in silence, but for the occasional explanation on a room, or on his house. Definitely a nutter. But now, now was my chance: The Doctor hunched over his 'controls', explaining each one, but never once looking up. I edged silently to the door, placing my hand on it and gently pulling it open. It echoed a loud creak and I held my breath, turning to check if I'd been caught. No. The Doctor warbled on loudly, explaining further. I opened the blue door, fully, my eyes still on The Doctor as I backed out of it. I had not expected to find myself clinging onto that door for dear life, silently screaming my lungs out. He had mentioned something about time travel, flying through space and so forth. But I hadn't believed him, and now, I forced myself as close to the blue doors, as was possible. My hair was blown back by my face. I turned my head to one side as I clung on, my feet gripping into the wood and giving me splinters. I could see stars. Not those which can be seen if you push your eyes too hard, but real ones, real stars. How was this even possible? I could breath. Every breath I drew, seemed to be full. But.. There was no air in space. What the hell was going on? This had to be an illusion, right? I gripped the door handles, tightly. "Be brave." I whispered, moving one of my feet out behind me like some strange sort of ballet dancer. Just then, a loud rumble caused my knuckles to whiten as I braced myself, trying to pull my foot back. A sudden jumping feeling and... WHOOOSH! I was spinning, clinging onto the doors and screaming now, at full volume. Strange lights passed me. I hardly noticed. "Doctor!" I shouted, forcing my foot to kick the door as hard as I could. "Doctor! _Help!_" A slight creek and a sudden burst of light, told me I was safe. The doors opened and I leapt inside, bowling over The Doctor. The man I had been trying so hard to escape. He leapt to his feet, shutting the door behind me and turning to look me full in the face. "Were you trying to run away?" He asked, tilting his head slightly, protruding nose becoming more obvious. "No, I.. I swear I-" He smiled again. "You were going the wrong way about it. Firstly, you shouldn't exit a moving vehicle, and secondly.." He placed a finger on his lips, face becoming serious. "Don't shout within earshot."

My emotions were all over the place and my mind had truly been blown by the whole experience. And yet, something told me that I could trust The Doctor. Maybe it was his shockingly handsome face? Maybe it was those burning blue eyes? Maybe it was the adrenaline which had been pumped through my veins? This man, this complete stranger, was my saviour.


End file.
